Presidential pardon to Madımak massacre case convict

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In a Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette with the signature of President and AKP Chairperson Recep Tayyip Erdoğan today (September 6), the remaining sentence of Hayrettin Gül, a convict in the Madımak massacre case, has been lifted.

The decree referenced the "permanent illness condition" report for Hayrettin Gül prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institute.

* According to the latest report from the Human Rights Association (İHD), there are currently 1,517 sick prisoners in prisons in Turkey, including 651 with severe illnesses. In 2022, at least 81 prisoners lost their lives in prisons.

Three years ago, President Erdoğan had also pardoned the sentence of Ahmet Turan Kılıç, who had been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment in the Madımak case.

What happened?

Hayrettin Gül was arrested on July 7, 1993, following the Madımak massacre. He was released on December 26, 1994. The Ankara 1st State Security Court initially issued a death sentence for him, but after the lifting of the death penalty, his sentence was converted to aggravated life imprisonment.

On May 14, 1997, a warrant for his arrest in absentia was issued. During this time, Gül applied for asylum in Germany. Germany accepted the asylum applications of Gül and other suspects from the Sivas massacre, including Adem Ağbektaş, Adem Bayrak, Etem Ceylan, Mehmet Yılmaz, and Sedat Yıldırım.

Hayrettin Gül was deported from Germany in 2003. Upon his deportation, he was placed in prison and has been in custody since then.

According to the information in the Presidential Decree, Gül received 10-month prison sentences for two separate defamation charges in 2018 and 2019. These sentences were merged with his main sentence.

About Sivas Massacre and its judicial process

On July 2, 1993, 37 people, including 33 artists and writers, 2 hotel workers, and 2 attackers, lost their lives in the fire that started at Madımak Hotel in Sivas. 33 intellectuals were there to attend the Pir Sultan Abdal festivities. 65 people, including 14 police officers, got wounded in the fire.

124 people were arrested in relation to the fire. In the seven-year trial process, 33 people were sentenced to death and 85 people were given prison sentences of 2 to 15 years. 37 defendants were acquitted. The death sentences of 33 people were converted to aggravated life sentences.

On March 13, 2012, the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court dropped the charges of the Sivas Massacre trial in line with the prosecutor's demand to apply the statute of limitations to the case.

As the 9th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the verdict on the violation of the statute of limitations, lawyer Şenal Sarıhan took the case to the Constitutional Court in 2014. However, the court has not yet announced its judgment. In response, lawyer Sarıhan has appealed to the Constitutional Court regarding the long judicial processes. (AS/PE)